It Takes a Village
by Star-Struck Inu
Summary: The warriors of Berk aren't vikings, they're dragons! Stoick has enough worries to gnaw on, between finding food for the Queen Dragon and Vikings trying to kill them, but wonders if his son Hiccup has gone mad when he decides to make peace with humans.
1. A Name

Okay, so unless someone hits me up with an awesome, and I do mean awesome plot bunny, this will be one of the last stories I start for about a week. Until I can finish His First Love, which will be a three-shot, the final chapter will be told from Hack's POV (I'm seriously serious last chapter this time!). Only Mine, which will be getting a second chapter and that will be the conclusion of the villagers feelings of the dragons.

Alright, so this story is going to be a little different than the others, don't worry I will label all warnings, so if this isn't your cup of tea you won't be wasting your time okay?

**Plot overview**: The villagers of Berk aren't Vikings! They're dragons! Between trying to find enough food for the Queen that constantly asks for more and Vikings that are starting to press closer to their island home; Stoick worries about to deal with his cross-breed son, half-Nightmare and half-Timberjack; who stubbornly insists that they should seek peace with the humans.

**Rating: **Teen, most of my stories will be suited to the older teens. Especially this one.

**Warnings**: This story will someday be mildly slashy, hmmkay? It will not be in your face, there probably won't be anything graphic. Also, as dragons, there will be a deal more blood, after all, why would dragons need to cook their food?

**Notes: **there won't be any slash for many chapters, so feel free to read. The slash later will also be able to be interpreted as heavy friendship, depends on if you have your goggles on. **Disclaimer**: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon, it belongs to DreamWorks, the story to Cressida Cowell.

Listening to: Dota- Basshunters, and I don't Think I Love You- Hoopeston (I don't own these!)

**Note: **Not everything is going to happen all at once. This is the first chapter of many and I'm going to take my time. (wink) So, don't worry, everything will be revealed. The summary will someday become true. It's just going to be around chapter four that it does, 'kay?

It Take a Village (chapter one, cleaned up version)

Stoick angled his large wings and flew swiftly down toward the chaos beneath him. Humans -Vikings they called themselves- were screaming insanely as the leader's fleet(1) of dragons rained hell fire down upon the useless lot of them.

He balked in the air, his wings beating to keep him level and snatched at the horse that had been left unattended. Making sure of his hold, the giant Nightmare winged back up toward the dark sky, going into a spin to avoid a loosed arrow. He did an easy loop and dropped like a stone. Flying over the human's heads, he released his fire and then again darted away.

Had it been any other raid, Stoick would have been on the ground, devouring the insignificant beings with relish; crunching their bones and sucking out the marrow. Humans tasted nasty at first but you, eventually, could get used to it. Some dragons even had a human type they loved to eat; but for Stoick it was much more personal.

The great orange dragon had loved his mate, Valhallarama, dearly and it had been those hideous humans that had killed her; so now every kill he obtained was a matter of revenge for his departed mate.

Not tonight though, tonight he could not stay and spill their evil blood. There was only one thing more important than Stoick's desire for revenge against the Vikings, one small thing.

A shriek went up to his right and the red-orange beast turned his massive head to look for the source. A small group of young dragons that were circling a few sheep did not notice the humans that were slowly coming towards them. He snorted, pausing in his quest to return to Home Cave. He winged over them, looking down as he passed overhead.

"What are you lot doing? Grab your sheep and get moving; the Vikings will make quick work of fledglings that idle."

The Nadder in the group turned her head sideways to view him, "Yes, Leader."

She opened her wings, gored a sheep through with her horn and leapt up blood, the streaming like a human banner. Behind her a young Nightmare, Gronkol, and two Zipplebacks followed; each clutching a sheep. 'Good,' thought Stoick, 'they will be safe from the Queen's wrath.'

The Queen. No dragon could remember where she came from, or for how many centuries they had all been feeding her. At first it was a helpful symbiotic partnership; she was larger than any dragon had ever been and she protected all of the dragons with a gentle and kind nature; they kept her well-tended and occasionally offered her large kills. Somewhere along the line, she grew too big to leave the Home Cave and called to her subjects for help, the dragons thus agreed to feed her.

It was not so bad then, she didn't eat a quarter at the time of what she ate now and she'd never eaten one of her own back then. It had changed so subtly, one day a Terror had dropped in a mouse and the Queen had been furious. Stoick had been young and watched alongside his own father as she stretched out her body and swallowed it whole. After that it became more common that it was a gamble if she decided to eat you or not. The Queen had grown to such an enormous size that it was impossible not to bend to her power. As if the her sheer bulk was not enough, she invoked an old spell as her right of the Queen of Home Cave to control all those who had pledged to her; that was just about every dragon in the Home Cave, because at the time she had been almost motherly to all of them. Some say that she had gone insane from all the dragons she'd ate, the cannibalism effecting her brain itself.

Now, with thousands of dragons under her command, all dragonets born were forced to swear loyalty or be eaten before they went through their initiation to be considered full grown dragons. Stoick was the proud leader of the dragons under his command. Despite all of the dragons having to bow to the Queen's rule, there were several factions of dragons to keep order; like the one Stoick was currently watching.

Back to the small thing that could make the leader forget his blood lust. It had been a hard decision the large dragon had had to make. At the time, the leader had thought he would have been able to have more hatchlings if anything went wrong with The Plan, but Valhallarama had been slain shortly after they had their first brood.

The choice Stoick had made was to hide away one of his own hatchlings, he could never ask another dragon for their egg as an experiment, far from the Queen's mind range. The male cross-breed had never met the Queen, nor had he ever consciously been to the Home Cave. This was dangerous -both for Stoick and his male offspring- because that meant whenever Stoick had to go meet the Queen, he had to shield his knowledge of having a hatchling; and the hatchling was often all by itself. To cover his tracks, and to be able to meet with his hatchling, Stoick moved his faction from Home Cave, his excuse to the Queen that there was more prey for her there.

The Queen was greedy, the idea of more prey in an area that had had no dragons to populate it sounded like a splendid idea, she still ate one of the dragons from his faction though; just because she could.

Stoick had once loved the Queen the way humans loved their leaders, but now he felt nothing but anger in his broad chest for the huge female. If it weren't for such a pressing need to have find prey to survive, perhaps Valhallarama would not have gone to the lengths of stealing so far into the village. They had surrounded her easily; Stoick could only be grateful to the human that had ended her quickly and without pain. If it wasn't for the evil Queen, he could have his hatchling always by his side, and the male dragonet would at least _know_ he had a father.

Yes, tonight was different though. He had to quickly drop his kill into that cavernous mouth and make haste to where his son's island was. There was trouble coming to the male, humans.

A curious looking mottled red-orange dragon slowly moved toward the lake. It was sure that it was alone, for it smelled nothing except some long since gone deer, and it's nose never lied. The dragon stretched out it's many segmented wings, the spread impressive and the edges of the wings glinted attesting their sharpness; the body… was not so awe-inspiring.

It moved with unhurried patience more and more out of the thickly wooded forest it resided in, anxious and jumping at every diminutive sound. This dragon had been schooled since the moment it hatched how to become invisible, even with its garish coloring(2). It had been taught how to shield its mind and taught that almost everything was dangerous. Not physically, but that everything could be a spy for _her_.

The dragon didn't know who she was, all he had heard of from the Great Nightmare that visited him was nothing short of horrifying. The dragon did not know why the Great Nightmare insisted he stay here on this secluded island, nor why the great beast came at all. The odd dragon did not wish for the visits to stop, he had no one to talk to and he could remember the Nightmare from his earliest memories.

The male dragon made it to the edge of the water and paused; comfortable that it still heard nothing. It lowered its narrow muzzle to drink the cool water of the lake. A twig broke behind the male, its head coming up in an instant, his wings arched to beat forward and slice whatever it might be.

For a long moment there was nothing but the occasional croak of a frog. The male focused his glowing emerald eyes at the edge of the wood; his sharp vision making out the form of a familiar Nightmare. The dragon folded his wings back neatly and went back to drinking knowing who it was.

The Nightmare made his way over to the smaller dragon and gazed down at it, "How are you doing young one?"

The mottled dragon moved away from the water's edge and stared up at the orange dragon he'd known all his life. "I'm well, thank you. Have you come for a visit?"

"I must speak very seriously, there is danger coming to you."

The thin, smaller dragon rested upon his orange and brown forearms, his incredibly long tail whipping the ground. For a moment, it resembled a rather large tomcat. The younger dragon stretched his longish neck and gazed levelly at the huge Nightmare. He seemed to contemplate the elder's words, "There has always been danger. Everything on this island, as you've said, is dangerous; you wouldn't come all this way just for that I'm sure. What could possibly be more hazardous?"

Growing up here away from any companionship would make most dragons rather primitive, with no one to talk to there would be no reason to truly grasp language. The young dragon reveled in language though, he often spent his time entertaining himself by giving long speeches to no one about nothing.

The Nightmare snorted, "Humans are what's worse."

Eerie green eyes continued to gaze at him unwaveringly… uncomprehendingly; after all, the small dragon had never seen a human. "Humans are nasty creatures, they kill without thought any dragon they can get their hands on." The large male nearly spat fire in his rage.

The mixed-blood looked with mild concern at the small spark that did escape, worried for his forest, but it died out moments later; "You say they are coming here?"

The red-orange dragon shook his head, "They are to settle on the island south of here; you can even view it from the South Beach."

The orange and brown dragon placed his head on the ground and closed his eyes, "Why would they seek me out? No one knows I exist here on this island. I do not hunt their food, nor raid their homes. I do not leave this island." The tone bored and tired.

Stoick sighed as he studied his offspring who had no idea that his only family was standing in front of his very eyes. When Stoick had heard Valhallarama was going to lay eggs he was more than ecstatic. His offspring would be strong and large enough to handle the life of being on their own for long periods of time, while the parents played stupid about having five eggs but only three hatchlings. The idea of someday breaking free from the horrid Queen was so tantalizing, that Stoick could almost taste it on his tongue.

But when she'd laid the eggs, cared and incubated them, sadly only one hatched. No one had ever heard of a Nightmare taking a Timberjack as a mate, Stoick had thought it would be fine, for they were both strong dragons, and it wasn't unusual for breeds to cross. Apparently, genetics thought differently. The dragonet that had hatched had had a tiny body, very much smaller than either parent had thought. Its wings made Valhallarama gasp in pleased delight though; she'd enjoyed telling Stoick that his male offspring had the largest wingspan for any hatchling Timberjack.

Stoick remembered gazing down doubtfully into the nest; the small dragonet curled up slightly on the warm rocks. Its body was long with flexible spikes at equal intervals leading down its neck, spine, and disappeared halfway down the tail. The tail itself was interesting, it was as sharp as the hatchlings wings would someday be; the tip was essentially like a spear. Bright reddish orange base color with speckles of mahogany brown covered him, as though he'd been sprinkled with earth along his spine and back; his wings showed the same mottled color but brightened to a fiery red on his extremities. The new hatchling had a somewhat longish neck, a delicate wedge-shaped head with a narrow, blunt muzzle, and lacked any horns.

The leader supposed the male wasn't of bad conformity -he was proportioned well enough- but he looked sideways to his mate, "Are we still going to risk it?"

The bark brown and forest green Timberjack thought about it. "I will not have my dragonet in her clutches, he will be taken to the island." There was no room in the tone for argument.

"What about when she asks about our hatchlings?"

The female dragoness let loose a melancholy sigh, and rolled one egg gently with her nose. "The truth, none of them hatched and we broke one open to make sure they weren't alive inside. I'll take her the eggs myself so she can see."

So Stoick took the hatchling far away from his birthing nest, to a lonely island far from the Home Cave.

The leader made sure he had almost no contact with any other dragons -they could tell the secret without even thinking about it- and made sure his son never knew where he came from.

Yes, it did hurt. The idea that his offspring had grew up in such an undragon-like manner. Left to his own devices, never properly taught how to breathe flame nor fly. Stoick had many opportunities to teach him, but flames would bring unwelcome guest and flying would just encourage the dragonet to run about. It was a tough call and Stoick had to make it. But the dragonet was still alive and he still had his own mind about him. Stoick knew the sacrifice would someday be worth it; soon as the young dragonet was almost ready to become fully fledged.

The great beast spotted his son making little inane scratches in the sand with a sharp-tipped tail; boredom evident. "Have you come all this way just to warn me of humans?"

Stoick looked at the younger dragon awkwardly, "What else would you want?"

The smaller dragon thought carefully, "Would you tell me, if you can, how I came to be on this island?"

Sadly, the Nightmare shook his head. "The time is not yet right for you to know."

Disappointed the lithe beast curled up tightly, the tip of his tail lashing the ground. "Then… can I have a name?"

Stoick was taken aback, "Where did you hear about that?"

"Surly dragons have a way to distinguish themselves from one another. And all the animals in the forest have something called a name. I want one, I want to be able to say I am someone."

The Nightmare shook his head, "Why would you ask me to give you a name, if you want one so badly you pick one out."

"Shall I take that as a no you won't give me a name?"

Stoick snarled, "Fine, you can be Hiccup."

The newly dubbed dragon blinked, "Hiccup? Why Hiccup?"

"Because you're as annoying as a case of them."

Hiccup harrumphed, but didn't raise a fuss. The dragonet looked up at the dragon, "Thank you, for giving me a name." He said with genuine gratitude.

It was almost too much for Stoick to bear. His son who didn't know him had instinctively sought him out for a name and then thanked the larger dragon so honestly even after Stoick had insulted the young one?

"I must go now, I'll be back in three days. The humans will make landfall the day after tomorrow. Do not engage them."

Hiccup gave him an innocent quizzical look, "Now why would I go and do a crazy thing like that?"

The Nightmare snorted, his offspring had a lot of his Timberjack mother in him, the male didn't have a doubt that the young one would go look; to try and catch a peek.

"Be careful and watch yourself." Without a single backward glance the Nightmare was gone, his wings taking him away.

Hiccup was by himself now, again. He curled up tight, but this time from delight.

A name, a poor name, but a real one. It was almost too much for the dragonet to handle.

_The Next Morning_

The sunlight filtered down just barely through the thick canopy of the forest. The small patches that made it through, were few and far between, making for a rather dark setting. This suited Hiccup just fine. With his mottling, the light was broken up, and it made it easy to become invisible with. Due to the fact he was orange as well as brown, the dragonet found it prudent to only walk when he had to, and only freely during sunrises or sunsets when the color orange was common.

This sunrise found him on the South Beach, observing the large vessels that were carrying humans past him. Humans -from his initial glance- were rather ugly in a way. They had no real distinguishing color patterns, all of them roughly the same size, and not a single scale to be found. But Hiccup had grown up practically by himself, never knowing another of his kind, what kind of judge on aesthetics was _he_? After a few hours of watching them though, Hiccup decided that humans were rather boring, very funny, but essentially very boring. An interesting and positive note, each one seemed to have bright colors on their heads. Hiccup didn't know that it was hair, but it blew gently whenever the wind passed by staying on; so it must grow from them.

It was all rather fascinating but Hiccup was hungry and the lake was calling to him. Carefully, the crossbreed disappeared into the woods once more.

Okay that's the first chapter. No Toothless yet, he'll be in the next one for sure. Those of you confused. Just keep thinking bee! (no I don't own _that_ movie either) No one is quite sure how the Queen bee controls the rest of the hive (some think it is the frequency and all that) but she does. Now apply that to the dragons, in this case it's taken a step farther, the Queen can emit a frequency that _pulls_ dragons in to her to do her bidding, most likely through persuasion (its sort of like brain washing them). The problem is it only works on those that accept her as Queen. Since Hiccup has never met nor been near her, she has no persuasion over him. The reason why Hiccup is not named is so that he can't be traced back to Stoick, which is a good thing. The leader has many enemies besides the Queen and a few humans. It was better for Hiccup to not know who his father is, nor have a name. Now that he is close to dragon hood, Stoick figures he's at least old enough to figure out who he should trust with the name.

1) fleet- a portion of a faction. A faction can have downwards of 300 dragons, but a faction is perhaps maybe 30 of them at a time hunting.

2) He's bright orange, kind of hard to hide, but Hiccup manages.

I hope you enjoyed the story. I suffer from sever anxiety so I hope you like it!


	2. A Meeting

I love all of my reviewers, I love my readers, hmm I love a lot of things. Anyway, here is the second chapter of "It Takes a Village", I'm so pleased with the responses!

**Disclaimer**: Maybe someday I will be rich and be able to buy the rights, but as of right now, I don't either the DreamWorks adaptation, nor the original book.

**Warnings- **Blood, some violence, some murdering of dragons and humans.

**Rating**: T

Notes: Toothless will be in this chapter… somewhere.

Listening to: Halfway Gone- Lifehouse, I Just Haven't Met You Yet- Michael Buble (Don't own but love to listen!)

A Meeting

Stoick eyed the island from his aerial view in the sky. It was almost completely perfect for the second part of his plan. The Queen was even older, her control slipping more and more. All Stoick needed now, was a few minutes of the break in their minds to move his faction from Home Cave to where Hiccup -probably not the best name to give a fledgling, but the best he could come up with at the time- was living.

Stoick was slightly bitter -more so than he was already- about the fact that, if he'd just waited a few more years, he would never had to have subjected his offspring to be practically banished and moved so far away. He had figured that the Queen's control would have lasted longer, another fifty years at least, but she was declining rapidly; the bond of Crowned Queen was disintegrating due to the intensity of the fear and hate of her subjects.

The world was full of magic and rituals, humans ignorant of it because they had been for so long away from their roots of it. Some humans could reclaim the magic, "shamans", "warlocks", and "gyðja_, _whatever they called themselves. Though their magic was weak, they still had called it back. Dragons knew of the pixies -annoying- and the trolls -so incredibly ripe-smelling they were left well enough alone- and so on. The magical bond of accepting a Queen was a powerful spell, one that could only be broken through time and continued displeasure.

Broken it was becoming though, soon she'd have little say over anything other than some annoying Gronckle's, too dull to realize that their Queen would eat them sooner than she would spare their miserable existence; not to say all Gronkel's were stupid.

His own most trusted friend was a Gronkle, okay so not a _pure_ Gronkle, he had a little Nightmare mixed in way, way back. Although what self-respecting Nightmare would mate with a Gronkle was beyond him…

The powerful orange beast tilted his wings and swooped in closer, but not too close. That was where the "almost perfect" came from. As per usual, every island in this area seemed inhabited by humans; even worse was that they were Vikings.

It had been a month now, since he had visited his, er "unsettling" offspring. The island he was circling was the island just south of his offspring's own home. The one where he'd warned the younger male that Vikings were moving in on. The younger half-breed had been… disinterested to say the least. Stoick supposed that was from his own handling of the dragonet; his first hatched had never seen up _close_ a human and their destructive prowess on a battlefield. All dragons would go to their death willingly before any of them ever let the humans know that they _were,_ in-fact, as fierce as they're idiotically small brains liked to think.

It would take very little effort to drive them out; in the mean time his faction could settle one the north side of the island; the one closest to the South Beach of his son's dwelling. They would have to leave the Home Cave as soon as possible; while the Queen's spell was weak, if they waited too long…

The Nightmare didn't want to think of the implications. He winged back around one last time and then began his journey to another out-lying island; about six miles away from he was, where his faction was waiting. Tonight would be the perfect night for the first raid in the plan he held for the Vikings; it wouldn't take too long.

Stoick stubbornly ignored the fact that Vikings had stubborn issues.

* * *

The noise of yelling and ferocious roars attracted Hiccup's attention from the small lizard he was viewing. It was a lizard he'd not yet seen before, not surprising given the dragonet's age. The sounds of battle only held the dragonet's attention for a few moments, he was not battling and there were no Vikings on his island; he was not interested any further.

Now this lizard here, with such a bright color and even brighter striation patterns down its spine; _that_ was interesting. Apparently, the lizard held nothing in the way of sympathetic understanding of the larger reptile's intense studying; and darted away into a tiny hole.

Hiccup tried to reign in his sudden disappointment; there was only so much to do here after-all. A new sound entered the foray of the not-so distant island. An sound that the young male had never heard before; it sounded like thunder and a high pitched screech all rolled in with crackling lightning. Eagerly, the dragon began to nearly run to the South Beach, dodging the whipping branches, he loved new and unique things.

Upon reaching the beach, Hiccup ignored his usual and careful routine of stepping out in slow increments and barreled out into the sand; it slowing him up only slightly as he pressed forward. He splashed into the cold salty waters and anxiously scanned the dark skies; his view lightened because of the night vision he possessed. The emerald eyes with flecks of fiery orange scanned fervently, "I know you're there, let me see you."

There it was, that sonic boom that cut the barrier of sound and light itself. The bright flash of blue fire lit up the sky; and despite the sudden intensity, Hiccup would not turn away.

His keen eyes caught sight of the majestic black hide that swooped languidly over the high metal bowls that held fire in the sky so the human's could see at night; his fire knocking one over and aiding his dragon brethren. It seemed that nothing could touch the black dragon's rippling scaled form; but a sudden barrage of arrows caused the dragon to bank viciously left, only to crash at high speed into a wooden pillar. From this distance the muffled throes of violence did not carry clearly; but Hiccup was sure from such a devastating hit, the other reptile would be most likely cursing in the manner the kind Nightmare that visited him would sometimes divulge into.

The form was falling now, quickly and haphazardly in an arc straight on path with his home. The half-breed made an awkward skip backward, his long neck tracking the trajectory of the inevitable impact that the other would have.

He turned on his claws and made a desperate sprint, loosing sight of the black dragon as the mottled creature was covered by the canopy of many trees. Despite the knowledge the other had disappeared from sight, he still craned his head up when he felt brave enough to handle the malicious branches. A violent and sudden crash that shook the surroundings; alerted the young male that the dragon he was in pursuit of had crash landed already.

It was very jolting when the male arrived, quite abruptly, at the scene. The black heaving figure convulsed in pain on the ground, and upturned trees were strewn about. The other, a male as his scent wafted about in the thrashing loose dirt thrown up, was hissing and snarling in a rage born of pain and indignant disbelief; the brunt of this was taken out on the poor trees. The blue wicked flames licked up the ancient tree bark.

Torn between the novelty of the pitch-black dragon and the horror of his home going up in flames -a Timberjack's worst night terror- the whispish dragon paced forward; intent on at least stopping the destruction. "Excuse me."

The male's head whipped in his direction, the lips of his maw separating to reveal many sharp teeth. Hiccup felt his flexible spikes down his back stand up in sudden indignation of such a display of aggression, considering that this was _his_ home that was intruded upon.

"_What?"_ came the spat-out inquiry; the ire and frustration clear in the tone of the low gravelly voice.

"You're tearing up my home. Do you wish to attract the attention of the humans? They will come to find you; and most likely they will kill you."

Hiccup said this in a dead-pan and neutral tone; he felt no dislike toward man, nor did he feel any anger or fright. It was a fact that had been drilled into his head from the Nightmare that visited; that no human would ever spare a dragon when found in such a vulnerable position.

Obviously, his blasé attitude toward the mentioned murder had stunned the dark male, his green eyes glittering in confusion and pain. He merely snarled and turned away from the mottled dragonet, "I don't have time for your silly questions from silly hatchlings," and he attempted to unfurl his wings.

The right wing extended properly, the left unfurled only part of the way, he keened in pain as the left hung at an uncomfortable and rather unnatural position. As Hiccup studied it, he easily came to the conclusion that it was broken. Many creatures on his island had broken bones, limbs, and other body parts; enough for him to be able to positively identify such an occurrence.

"URGHA!!" The male dragon roared incensed by his pain and frustration. "Why of all days, this day!" He scream to the sky.

Hiccup had little idea as to who the dragon could possibly be screaming too, and turned an angular head up, just to be safe that there was no random dragon flying above him. "Is this funny to you Draco(1)?!"

Now Hiccup was worried, his eyes could see nothing in the sky except for many stars. "Who are you calling to?"

The male beast turned toward him, "You do not know of Draco?"

The young dragonet had the sudden feeling of being out of some cosmic loop; was he supposed to know of this Draco?

"N~o," he responded, quiet with the sudden sinking feeling of being considered stupid by the second dragon he'd ever met.

The black dragon forgot his pain and anger momentarily to cast his glowing eyes upon him; sweeping up and down his form. "What are you supposed to be?"

Hiccup felt the urge to run, to disappear as he was supposed to have done when this dragon crashed upon his island. How silly of him to seek out this creature, despite the pain the other was in?

"I don't know," was what he responded back with, instead of his fleeing visage.

The male hissed again, as his step forward jarred his injured wing. "You don't know what you are?"

"No."

"Do you now where you are?"

"No."

"Do you know anything at _all_?" The tone was long-suffering and edging back toward being frustrated.

"I know your wing is broken." Hiccup responded as neutral as every answer he'd given before. Inside his body though, was a turmoil of thoughts. He was rather stupid wasn't he? He didn't know what type of dragon -at least he knew he _was_ a dragon- he was, he didn't know where his island was located, he didn't even have a name until a month ago.

The male in front of him seemed to droop slightly and the striking eyes returned to the aforementioned broken wing. "Yes, it is broken."

The tone was a very strange one, one that Hiccup was unable to place as he had never really heard such an open response; one of defeat. He shifted slightly, more like just shifting his weight to settle more closer to the ground; his own luminescent eyes trained on the larger figure.

"What are you?" the question was posed gently.

The male stopped looking at his wing as though it had betrayed him in some way and glanced at him. "Haven't you even- Oh, never mind. I am a Night Fury."

Hiccup blinked, was that close to a Nightmare? A similar breed perhaps? Unlikely, the two breeds shared very little in conformation, and this male had too many wing segments to be of the same breed.

"Would you like me to set your wing?"

The black male was stunned then, his jaw's hanging slightly open and those great eyes staring in complete disbelief. He seemed to find his voice then, "Are you for real?"

The tone was condescending, another tone Hiccup had no experience of. Tone and inflection was something one learned from conversations and meeting others. Hiccup had never really met any other dragon outside of the Nightmare, and was very out of his depth when it came to this conversation. This male was a long way from being a strung-out squirrel that could barely form a coherent thought in dragonese, let alone speak it.

"As far as I know I exist. Your wing looks very uncomfortable, would you like for me to set it? If it heals wrong, you won't be able to fly."

Hiccup thought mournfully of all the sea birds that hit the bluffs on this island in strong gale winds; their wings had set wrong as well, and they were quickly made meals of by the predators on the island.

The large beast gazed at him with distrust; "Why should I allow you to set my wing? What do you want for in return?"

"Re-turn?"

Hiccup said the word in such a manner that made it sound like two words instead of one. The dragonet had never thought that helping would mean he'd get something. Nor did he really even know what would be deemed appropriate. He'd set a wing and in turn would save the elder male from being hunted down and become useful again, what kind of reward did that calculate out to be? "W-Would you teach me to fly?"

The same blank look conquered the other male's face. "Y-y-y…You don't know how to fly, but you can _set_ a wing?"

The incredulously toned question didn't phase the younger, "Yes," non-plussed, he continued, "would you teach me to fly if I fix your wing?"

The black bulk shifted, "If, and only if, you can set my wing and I can return to the sky," longing entered the wicked low voice, "I will teach you to fly. Even though, you really should already know and be preparing to fledge soon."

Hiccup blinked slowly, "Pledge?"

The other dragon nearly beat his head into the ground at the force of him collapsing onto the forest floor, "For the love of Draco, _fledge." _He enunciated carefully. His eyes sharpened as the elder viewed the smaller dragon, "Was your egg shook up before you hatched?"

"I don't know."

"Where are your parents, surely they can be of more help." Imagine, a Night Fury asking for help like some common dragon…"

He trailed off, looking wholly dissatisfied.

"I don't have… parents, was what you asked?"

"Parents," the male said clearly, "They were the ones that created your egg."

The smaller had a brief mental image of the birds that laid their eggs in the springtime. "Ah, no I don't have any parents."

A confused looked overtook the large male's face, then contorted in pain. "Let's leave that conversation for the future. Can you really, and I'll kill you where you stand, so help me if you're lying, fix my wing?"

Hiccup felt no fear, the dragonet would have been killed by now if the other dragon was truly of a mind to do so. "Yes, I have fixed one before."

"Very well, fix it."

The demand was made imperiously, but Hiccup felt no anger at the tone. He had no experience, and had not been raised to have pride. At the very explanation of what pride was, the dragonet would most likely be confused at. Pride was something both taught and learned; through actions made by you and actions made by those to emulate. With no one to raise him, Hiccup had not learned such mannerisms and merely turned to head into the woods back toward his den.

"Can you follow me?"

The Night Fury was wholly unprepared for the act of nature that was Hiccup. Never before had the black dragon ever met such a confused and utterly unflappable beast. One that did not know of its origins, and seemly couldn't care. One that knew how to set wings, but did know who Draco was. One that was rather self-sufficient, but could not fly. It was very unsettling, and the sooner this lower dragon, which it most certainly was despite its unknown breed, set his wing; the sooner he would be healed and ready to leave.

Another stunning turn of events, the younger dragonet, one the _didn't know how_ to fly, had turned its back to him. The wings in full view of the Night Fury's eyes, so vulnerable and unconcerned; it was unheard of to be so accepting of an unknown male in one's territory. The very idea of accepting a healthy male that had no ties to one's faction onto one's territory was mind boggling; had this dragon no shred of pride? Had no scrap of draconic legacy to uphold?

But, if it could really fix his wing, it would be worth it. So the dragon followed quietly and in pain behind the smaller bulk of the dragonet.

Hiccup was enjoying himself when the two approached his den. A cave of sorts, which was big enough to accommodate his own -and sometimes the kind Nightmare's- bulk easily. "Please rest here, I will need to acquire a splint."

The entire searching process did not take very long, and soon the half-breed was dragging back a thin, but sturdy, branch of a slightly flexible sapling.

The Night Fury observed the younger male as he searched through many crevices in the back of the cave, the large black dragon had not deigned to look. The smaller did back up suddenly, trailing long tendrils of thick corded rope; most likely from shipwrecks and washed up debris.

The strangely mottled dragonet sidled up alongside and the Night Fury had to tense to keep from snapping the dainty wedged-head from its neck; the large male was unused to allowing anything physically close to his body. Sitting on his hind legs, the small dragonet reared up his lithe body teetering, absurdly long -and equally sharp-edged- wings spread for balance. Slender forearms reached out, and surprisingly nimble clawed digits grasped gently at his injured wing. There were only four claws per hand, and they all felt carefully up from his the base of the wing, where it connected with the aching shoulder. Bringing both pleasant and painful feelings.

It wasn't until the younger had reached the middle of the metacarpal, did Hiccup feel the fracture. He looked up sharply at the older, as the black male reflexively tried to pull the wing back to his black bulk as he snarled with pain. "Do _not_ move the wing further while I'm holding it. You will damage the muscle."

Hiccup wasn't too sure, but he'd killed and ate, and saved strangely, enough birds to know a little about their skeletal structure. He knew that the bones were hollow and rather fragile. While no self-respecting dragon would ever entertain the idea that dragons were similar to their avian partners in the sky; Hiccup was no self-respecting dragon.

He carefully lined up the bone -ignoring the roars of pain and the long furrows ripped into the _stone_ floor- and then held the stick carefully with his claws as he returned the left wing to its normally closed position close to the body. It was tricky to maneuver the rope enough to keep the stick in place. It required some uncomfortably close positions to the positively steaming -from fury and embarrassment- black dragon, but eventually, the speckled dragon managed the desired X pattern to the ropes. Crude, but it would be efficient and keep both the wing and stick in place.

The Night Fury was nearly beside himself at the situation, both unused to contact and the warmth of another dragon so close. It was strange enough that this dragon had no knowledge of anything that made a dragon indeed a dragon; but his wing -while still slightly painful- was definitely better.

"What's your name?"

The Night Fury looked down abruptly, nearly speechless. It was absurd, really! He, a draconic noble, was struck speechless for the second time -in a very small period of time- in the same day. "It's Toothless."

Hiccup peered back closely at the dragon's jaws, "But you're not-"

Toothless snapped at him, causing the smaller to scramble away, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Hiccup looked at him wide-eyed, "Of course."

There was an awkward silence between them, a silence that Hiccup was unused to having the pleasure of experiencing. "My- my name is Hiccup!"

Toothless glared at him from his space against the wall, unsure of the sudden joy, an emotion that larger male had not seen from the younger; from just mentioning a name. Instead of responding, the black dragon merely curled himself up, careful not to move his wing.

Hiccup did not press for more conversation, but was pleased and swished his tail in the manner of joy. He shuffled forward and curled up nearby, his wedge-shaped head sniffing carefully at the others -rather like a salamanders(2)- head. The eyes snapped open and the other rumbled warningly and a finned tail snapped up to cover the smooth scaled snout.

Hiccup rested his head on his own forearms and released a pleased sound he'd never made before -startling himself slightly- a purr.

* * *

The two slept peacefully, near one another in mutual comfort. Toothless felt his sleek black ears twitch at a slight noise. His head rearing up and looking in the direction of the mouth of the cave.

His brain still addled by sleep, his instincts kicked in to cover the slight out-of-depth sense the male was feeling. The pain of his wing kept him from snapping it out, but he stepped in front of his sleeping companion before he truly was awake. One of the largest Nightmares the noble dragon had ever seen was sticking its enormous head though the mouth of the cave. "Hiccup, you in here dragonet?"

Snarling low in the back of his throat, Toothless felt his fire raise up, ready to breathe it at the male who was encroaching on the cave. The Nightmare -shocked at the appearance of a new male who had no business being in his offspring's cave- let out an outraged roar.

"Wait, wait, stop! Both of you, stop!" A smaller form threw himself between the two. Shocking both the dragons into stillness. "He is a guest."

Stoick found himself with the sudden urge to sit down.

* * *

Draco: Draco is a constellation in the Northern sky. The star Eltanin is the brightest star in Draco, but the star Thuban, is the star that in the year of 2700 BC was the northern pole star. It will again be a pole star in, well let's just say it will be a really, really, _really_ long time before it is again. (cough189000yearscough) Give or take a few thousand years.

2) When I first saw Toothless on screen I was vividly reminded of a salamander I had found in my basement, and he just reminded me his body. Salamander's have had myths about them from when they were discovered. They are mainly related to fire, the belief that salamanders both created fire and were created by fire themselves. They also have an eel-like appearance, ironic considering his dislike of eels in the movie.

I looked up online the anatomy of a bird, and the metacarpel is the bone of the wing that caused it to arc. Though on a dragon it would be the part of the wing that juts out from the shoulder, right before the joint that lets it unfurl. To bandage a bird wing, you have to secure it with gauze and wrap it in an X shape over the wing when its closed. Small splints are helpful, but the best thing it to make sure its kept still and in it's natural resting position; it heals best this way... I suppose. I'm no vet, soooo yeah.

Cheers all. Review and enjoy.


	3. Dragon, Dragon

(headdeask) I am SO SORRY! I know I've taken forever to update this, and I will make it up to you all, yes? I am very pleased by all the positive feedback for this story. After this update, all my stories will have three chapters each! For me, this is a sentimental event! Anyway, again, thank you for all the great reviews. Not a whole lot else to mention; other then me begging for forgiveness!

Disclaimer: Mmm, if I said, "Yes! I DO OWN IT!" Will I wake up tomorrow with 1000 reviews and everyone screaming for blood? Yeah, because I already realized that I will never have such talent (deep, sad sigh), oh well. I will continue to delude myself; and you all get to enjoy it!

Rating: Pu-leaze, this is barely T. I don't see it ever leaving this rating so; this is for pretty much everyone over 12.

Oh! And if anyone has more talent than me in art (so everyone raise your hands, I draw stick figures!) I would be very, very much obliged if anyone would, perhaps, make me a few drawings of this story; and maybe the others? PM, or leave a review if you are bored and want to do it! I will link you in my profile, and credit you in the stories!

Warnings: Cracked out Hiccup! No, just kidding. He will seem a bit strange though, so.

Also: I don't own the books of E.E Knight, from the Age of Fire series. I am borrowing an idea in it. In this book, the dragons are sentient beings that consume mountains and mountains of metal, gold, and steel to help strengthen their own scales and to keep them hard and healthy. I figure a Timberjack must have something up their "wings" to be able to slice. I was leaning toward sharp spikes that ran along the edge; but finally decided that this idea makes better sense. From consuming metal, I figure the scales could be sharp enough along the edge of the wings and strong enough, to slice through trees. So along the edge of the wings, a thin and nearly invisible line scales will be extremely sharp, but they are only revealed when the Timberjack glides with his wings straightened, or else he'd be running around cutting everything. It's hard to explain without drawing it, but when a bird keeps its wings completely straight when it glides, the part of the wings that's facing outwards, the part where the metacarpal bones are, that is where the line of scales will be; essentially like the chainsaw of a lumberjack.

Chapter Three: Dragon, Dragon

Hiccup could sense, even though he really didn't understand, the Nightmare's enormous anger. He could see it in the tense way the muscles twitched, the way the great head was reared back, the way the nostrils flared.

Now that he could see and identify anger, the small dragonet turned to compare the body posturing to the inky dragon behind him. In Hiccup's opinion, it was not the same manner of anger. Toothless seemed more… ruffled and unsettled, then really upset. More likely from being woken up from sleep, or maybe in the presence of such a larger male?

Stoick settled carefully to the ground; his forearms ending with two cruel talons, each dug into the ground. His wings closed in a human fan-like motion; each brought flush against the forearms. His orange-green eyes glaring maliciously and with a light born of fierceness. "What is your _guest_ doing on this island and why have you allowed him into the cave?"

Hiccup had the sudden feeling that he had erred in some way, or else the dragon would not be so mad. Was it not customary to allow an injured dragon into his cave? Had he committed some terrible crime amongst dragon kind?

"His wing…it's injured. I apologize, have I done something wrong?"

Toothless snorted, his tail swishing in an anxious fashion upon the floor of the cave. The Nightmare ignored him, instead moving his head toward the young dragonet.

"Has he hurt you?"

Hiccup felt his eyes narrow in confusion, his closed wings shivered slightly to reflect the sudden feeling, "No, why would he…?"

The small dragonet trailed off, still unsure of exactly what was happening here, but wishing he knew. The Nightmare seemed genuinely unsettled over the idea of the Night Fury being in the same cave. Unsure of what else he was to do, Hiccup unfolded a wing and began to preen it, his pointed snout dislodging any extra dead skin and easing the itch that bothered each fold. The long wing extended neatly; and once again, the dragonet found himself observing the wing. It was the same color of the rest of him, red-orange, but so overlaid with brown and green flecks, it looked as though a landslide had fallen on him. The wing had six tines splitting out from the main joint, each would collapse upon one another to close up, much like the Nightmares own wings. When his wing was completely unfurled, and the edge was straight, a glint of nearly invisible silver spread down it. Hiccup knew what these wings could do; they were sharp enough from the swords and hammers the Nightmare brought him to consume. Sharp enough to completely split through trees, but the young male had only tried it on one tree; what good would it do to destroy his home?

"Will you be staying the night?" The dragonet asked demurely, his eyes barely peeking out from the wing he was cleaning. Stoick stirred himself, "You bet your tail scales, I'll be staying. Be more aware of yourself! A dragon never allows a stranger into their nest!"

Hiccup did not speak the two protests forming in his mind. The first being, what was to be considered a stranger? He already knew this dragon's name. The second was that the dragonet really had no nest. He hadn't really felt up to making one, it would mean quite a bit of hauling around sticks and rocks; all to make a little circle in the depths of the cave. The ground was just as comfortable, but the Nightmare insisted that he try it someday; and the dragonet had always told himself, he would try most things once.

Releasing his wing from a clawed paw, Hiccup turned to return toward the den. He settled himself deep inside, near the back wall that was about fifteen feet inward. While he was settling down, he noticed the hulking form of the Nightmare pressing itself in and walking until the considerable bulk was a foot or so in front of the young dragonet. His body was effectively blocking the view of both the Night Fury, and the mouth of the cave.

Again, Hiccup swallowed a protest. Unsure of why he always held his tongue when the elder male was nearby, nor why he was upset by the space between his guest and his own self. Hiccup assumed it was because he was worried for his guest, after all, the male had never had company outside of the Nightmare. It was nice to talk to someone new.

Toothless, curled up near the mouth of the cave, was unsettled for an entirely different matter. The elder male had really no good business being here; the Night Fury was feeling mulish, and even though he cared little for the small dragonet that had brought him here, he was willing to be upset over their separation just for the sake of it. The Nightmare was no mate, but rather, even had a similar scent to the dragon that called himself Hiccup; though the small dragonet had declared already that he had no parents.

The attitude of the larger male, brought about a different opinion in the Night Fury, who was sure he was correct in his assumption that this hulking beast was indeed related to the dragonet behind his form. So the dragonet was at least half Nightmare, eh?

The two males glared one another down, the Nightmare settling with his spiked tail in front of him, the green-orange eyes trained on him in distrust. Frankly, Toothless was surprised that no fight had broken out yet. Two able-bodied males that had no attachment to one another's factions, sharing the same cave and even in the same territory, for Draco's sake!?

It was most likely due to the glaring fact, that this was neither male's territory, but the hapless dragonet's. Toothless inwardly shook his head, it was too confusing for such a tiring night. A dragonet that didn't know anything of itself and claimed to have no parents, but here was his sire in front of his own nose. A large Nightmare that didn't control his offspring's territory, a territory that didn't have even one scent mark of the Nightmare anywhere? The black dragon snorted, and closed his glowing eyes. There would be time enough tomorrow; if he wasn't killed in his sleep, that is.

------The Next Morning------

The sound of birds chirping roused Hiccup from his very peaceful sleep. He always slept well, there was nothing ever to disturb him on his-

An ear-splitting shriek sounded from outside the cave; shocking Hiccup, who froze up surprised. A roar answered the shriek and Hiccup felt himself grow cold as he realized what was going on.

He uncurled himself and snapped forward, his wings unfurling in his haste, an unconscious habit; but perhaps more of an instinctual means for protection. With his wings already unfurled and nearly straightened; it wouldn't be much more effort to open them completely and slice through whatever dangers he ran was running towards.

Bursting through the mouth of the cavern, the dragonet surprised himself once again as he unleashed his own savage battle-cry. The two circling dragons; startled from an aggressive snarl from such an unassuming dragonet, paused once again in their continued fight from the night before.

Hiccup seemed just as flustered as the other two dragons, his jaws opening for a moment before they snapped shut in irritation. "Don't upset your wing, it won't heal if you do. And do stop fighting, you're disturbing my peace."

'_Very much so,' _the dragonet thought. His stomachs felt like they were twisting together into an unrecognizable mess. Hiccup wasn't sure _why_ he was so upset at the sight of the two dragons fighting, but was quite happy to think it was because he'd never seen to dragons fight before, especially when there was nothing around that should upset them; and leave it at that.

Toothless could only stare blankly, which he seemed to be doing quite a bit of lately, at the dragonet. A child should never interrupt such important posturing between two older males. Nor should he look so uncomfortable at the thought of the two fighting. It was in a dragon's nature of course. The black dragon understood his instincts; to prove that, despite his wing, he was a healthy and very powerful male. That he would put up with nothing the Nightmare gave him. It was necessary if the two would find a semblance of peace with one another, if they both knew where the other stood.

The noble dragon watched the large Nightmare, amazingly, step back from the fight; albeit reluctantly. The orange-red beast sat back on his back haunches, his arms -and thus his wings- extended as though he were stretching. Toothless nearly fell over, at the blatant show of the vital spots of the male's chest, his ire rising in the form of blue fire.

A snarl tore his attention back to the dragonet. While the black dragon was distracted, the small thing had sidled up and the noise had come from that slender throat. Once again, Toothless found himself swallowing it back, both the desire to flame his fire and the fire itself. _"What!?" _He snapped uneasy at the other's stare.

Though Hiccup took no offense, as per usual for the weird dragonet, his sire growled low, "Watch how you speak to him, Night Fury!"

The said Night Fury _ignored_ the elder, and kept his eyes on Hiccup. The dragonet said only one quiet line, "Do not fight on my island."

And he walked off towards the forest, the same nonchalance and open stance he'd always taken; completely unbothered by the idea that he could be torn apart by any passing dragon.

Toothless was rankled, his long ears pinned back against his skull and his teeth were bared. He heard a derisive snort and tossed a glare at the older male, "What, are you still here?"

The other ignored him.

"Shouldn't you follow your offspring? Wouldn't want a wayward Viking boat to grab that off-kilter twitch with wings."

"That, _twitch_ _with wings_, has probably save your ability to fly, you ungrateful, misaligned scaled little gecko."

Toothless leapt back to his feet, his snarl back and he was ready to pounce at any instant. He could not allow such a slur to the breed of Night Furies to go unpunished, the dragon council wouldn't hear of it. "You take that back you fire-breathing reject for a dragon. How dare you insult a Night Fury!?"

Stoick snorted once again. The council had no real power anymore. Perhaps back before the Queen grew ill from her cannibalism, such a threat of power might have brought the older male to pause. They were nothing now, a few breeds of dragons that were, and Stoick would admit it, stronger than others; they continued on with their rituals and ceremonies. The Nightmare was not overly worried of them, the Night Furies were a nasty bunch to fight with to be sure; and the young male would probably prove as quick and strong as any of their species. But it was of Stoick's firm belief, that the young Night Fury learn; that once he was outside of Home Cave, there was no one here to enforce the dragon's council other then the dragon himself.

As much as Stoick would have enjoyed putting the proud younger dragon in his place, well… at least down a few pegs -even a young Night Fury was a fierce fighter- the eldest dragon knew his offspring would be enraged at the idea of coming back from his hunting and find the two slashed to pieces.

Lashing his tail the Nightmare walked forward, his balance precarious as he balanced on the two wicked talons; he really preferred to fly where he needed to go. As he stepped past the dark dragon, both were tensed incase the other lunged, the orange beast made his way into the forest. There was very little in the way of food here other than fish, though Hiccup had mentioned something about allowing the dear and rabbit population build up before he started hunting them again.

The Nightmare sighed, his offspring was hardly a vision of the lofty ideas for Dragonkind. If Stoick were completely honest with himself, he'd even go so far as to wonder if the dragonet, was truly his. It was absurd of course, Valhallarama had been the most faithful dragon Stoick had ever known. A nearly unheard of trait in recent years. A long while ago, when Stoick was still growing from fledge hood, was the time when dragons mated for life. But now, the very idea among younger dragons of binding oneself to another for the rest of their considerable lifespan shocked many. They were too content to mate with whomever and whenever they liked, their excuse was born of the idea that anyone of the dragons could be killed anytime; so why go through the hurt?

Stoick could understand this, he still mourned the loss of his dead mate, but he was a loyal and a true dragon; also true to the ritual life mates as the dragon culture was built on. As long as he drew breath, he'd never take another dragoness; he wasn't sure he even held the desire to mate any longer. Every time lust welled up, it was killed, quite easily, by the old memories of mating with his beloved Valhalla. After such thoughts no dragoness would be able to compare.

He broke through the thinning line of the forest, and saw his offspring splashing in the waves. His thin neck weaving until it lunged forward and snapped at a passing fish. Stoick walked awkwardly toward him, his journey made even more uneven by the sand. "Hiccup, dragonet, have I not told you about being out during the day?"

The named beast turned elegantly amongst the buoyant water; a wriggling fish between his jaws. The mottled creature moved from the sea, his tail leaving a deep furrow in the sand. As he came closer, he delegated one clawed hand to keeping the fish up from the sand, "You have, kind Nightmare; but today is necessary. I did not sleep all day yesterday, but last night; and I'm rather hungry."

Stoick did not mention the fact that he saw a small pile of already caught fish near the shoreline. He also did not comment on his offspring's strange desire to help another dragon that was not kin. That caused a pause in the older dragon, perhaps it was because the dragonet was not aware he had kin?

It was all too much to think about, and the Nightmare sighed audibly. Hiccup blinked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the male said in a short manner. "I must be leaving soon. Keep wary of him, Hiccup. He may seem nice, but don't let him close."

Those unsettling eyes turned to peer up at him, "Yes, I will keep watch of him."

Stoick shook his head at the statement that seemed more worried for the Night Fury, then wary. It was important that his offspring keep alive, or the entire plan to someday take back Home Cave would crumble. Though the spell was weak, within a certain radius, there would be nothing any of the other dragons could do; they would be trapped by her mind and their individual oaths.

"I will be seeing you soon." And the Monstrous Nightmare leapt easily into the air with a mighty bound.

Hiccup murmured appreciatively of the strength of the leap, his desire to learn to fly nearly overwhelming him. _"Soon,"_ the dragon vowed to himself, _"Soon."_

Walking over to the pile of fish, the half-breed gathered them up as best he could, and sat them carefully at the base of his neck. As long as he did not jerk about, nor move too suddenly, the fish would remain on his back.

The trip back was uneventful and the glower he received as he neared the radius of the cave, gave the returning dragon pause.

"The mighty fisher has returned I see." the tone was dry and bored.

Hiccup felt out of place, but he shook it off and walked up to the lounging, sprawled male. "I brought you fish, if you're hungry?"

The older male blinked at the questioning tone and rolled over onto his belly, his nostrils catching the oily and salty scent of fish. Despite himself, he was positively drooling over the prospect of eating. He was always ravenous after a raid, no matter how unsuccessful.

The serpentine dragonet stood over him and carefully tipped his body slightly to deposit a large number of fish at his paws. Purring, without even a thought to the noise, the Night Fury dug in viciously.

Hiccup couldn't help but stare as he watched fish after fish disappear into the thick throat. It appeared once the edge was taken off of his hunger, the larger male would even playfully toss the fish into the air and snap them down in pieces. He was even getting creative about, using his tail to bat one into his mouth, when Hiccup couldn't watch any longer and he turned away violently.

Toothless had caught the fish neatly between his teeth, and was surprised as the younger turned away. Strange, which the Night Fury was beginning to think would forever accompany Hiccup, that the other dragon would turn away, all the other dragonet's at Home Cave thought his fish flip was fun to watch.

"What's wrong now?"

Hiccup flinched slightly, "Can't you just eat them?"

Toothless was becoming tired at constantly being struck dumb, it did nothing for his, "Night Furies are superior!" mantra. "What do you mean just eat them? I've already finished them all."

The dragonet shook his head, "I mean, why do you bat them around? They are already dead, why play with them?"

The black dragon blinked, unsure at this question, "Why? Why not?"

The mottled creature looked straight into his eyes, "It seems cruel."

Cruel? Cruel? Toothless almost fell over from shock and mirth, "We are dragons, are we not by nature cruel?"

Hiccup curled his tail up around his haunches; cruel by nature? He'd never really thought of it, he'd only met two dragons after all. Did that mean he was cruel? Hiccup really didn't know, he had never batted a fish's corpse around, just because he could, and he'd never terrorized villages. Did that mean he was still cruel? That one day when he wasn't paying attention to himself, he could possible turn vicious on some hapless being?

Toothless had noticed how his response had upset the other younger dragon; and was disconcerted by the discovery of a new feeling. Guilt. Oh, how the other Night Furies would laugh it up if they knew that he as feeling _guilt_ over upsetting a lesser dragon.

"But…" the Night Fury began, unsure of what he was going to say after that first word, "You, um, aren't cruel."

"_Oh good move there._" He thought disgustedly at his hesitant statement, _"Some dragon noble, getting tongue-tied like a silly hatchling."_

Hiccup was, again, not like any other dragon. He did not even notice the way the words were delivered, but he perked up immediately at the assurance he was not a cruel animal. The shift in the younger's mood was as abrupt as the sun coming out after a thunderstorm, and he ambled off back into the cave.

Toothless stood there for a few seconds, something had just happened here… he was sure of it, but… what exactly? It was like playing catch-up with his sire when he was a hatchling, he could never quite catch up.

Ignoring the thought entirely, the dragon crept into the cave and was surprised to see the other settling down, as though for a nap. "Are you going back to sleep?" his tone one of amazement.

Hiccup stirred himself and sniffed at the ground, if only for something to do. "I usually don't sleep during the night, I am nocturnal by circumstance."

"Uh huh…"

Another awkward pause between the two and Hiccup delighted in the very idea that he had someone to have awkward pauses _with_.

"I'll just, lie down over here then." and the black blur moved from the shining light at the mouth, he settled barely five feet in.

"You know you can come further inside?"

The Night Fury turned those spell-binding eyes on him, "I know." Was all he said before closing the mentioned eyes, their entrancement breaking.

Hiccup curled back up, his tail lying across his snout, _"Strange, but very nice. Having someone to be strange with."_

_----_With Stoick-----

Stoick breathed in the fresh cold air of the morning. Behind him fanned out his entire faction, a good three hundred strong. Last night he had raided the Village of Berk, as the Vikings had so named it, and he thought it had been rather successful.

Near him flew his friend, not his second-in-command, but still a close confidant. "So where be this famous informant you're always flying off to meet up with?"

Turning his head to observe the strange looking dragon, he'd looked like he'd been put together using bits and pieces of a Nightmare and a Gronckle, "He is on a nearby island. Tell the others that we'll be landing now."

Following his own advice, Stoick began to descend toward the north end of the island they'd invaded last night. His plan was working well, just another few months, the Nightmare could smell the victory.

_______________

There you all go! Sorry it's a little short, but I felt this was a good time to cut it off!

Listening to (Do NOT Own):

Save the Last Dance for Me: Michael Buble

The Mating Game: Bitter:Sweet

Which to Bury; Us or the Hatchet: Relient K

Enjoy and review! I love feedback!


	4. Oh Look! More Guests!

Hello, hello!I know I've been neglecting this story for a while now, so I'd better get it updated before I forget about it entirely. Special thanks goes to KATANNGFOREVERanEVER, for making some artwork for this story. I'll put links up, as soon as she deems that they are worthy (though I think they're pretty good already).

**Disclaimer: Don't own!**

**Rating: Still T!**

**Warnings: My punctuation! **For the record, I don't find Nadders' to be a very "pretty" breed, though stunning work on deviant art has started to change my opinion. Astrid is a very pretty human and I was wary of making her a Nadder in this story, because I don't think a Nadder is as graceful as she appears in the movie, then I realized Nadders kind of look like Raptors (the dinosaurs not the bird) and I find them very beautiful soooo…

It's not so much aesthetics, as I don't feel that she would be a Nadder if she were to become a dragon, but I couldn't find any dragon I like better for her, so I did my best!

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Chapter 4

Oh look! More guests!

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"Oh, will you _please_ choke on your sheep and leave off!" Astrid snapped her jaws producing a sharp clacking sound. She unfurled her wings and hopped, incredibly bird-like, a few paces away. She was making a faint hissing noise, like a current of lightning and turned her head slightly to view the Nightmare more closely.

"But Astrid-"

"No! I've had enough! Every day you come around here and strut about my nest! I have told you everyday that I have no interest in being your mate, there are more important things to worry about." She cocked her head and thought about it some more, "And we've only just fledged, catching the wind a little too quickly, aren't we?"

Snotlout, in his rather optimistic way, took the rejection in stride. He puffed out his enormous chest and put back his head, his deep red and banded black color standing out all the more boldly, "Yes, I do strut rather well, don't you think?"

Astrid gave a heated snort, "Besides, I don't mate outside my breed, I think I already told you _that_ as well."

The large male leaned back onto his front claws, his former posture was too awkward to maintain for very long, "And I most would most certainly agree with you whole-heartedly my darling Astrid," Astrid made a rude gagging sound, "But surely, with your beautiful conformation and my own stunning handsome self, our offspring would be most beautiful." He seemed quite pleased with himself as he finished this long speech, "Come now darling, don't be so churlish, I'm quite the catch."

Astrid looked skyward, she'd had quite enough of this male and all of his presumptuous showing-off. "Look, Snotlout, I'm sure you _are_ quite a… uh, catch. You must understand though, I just could never compete with your _stunning_ good looks, so really, I must resist. Surely there must be some dragoness out there for you to pursue, one that would be much better suited to you and all that lovely…stuff?"

While the male puffed back up again, Astrid took the chance to escape. She unfurled her wings with a great snap. Pumping her muscular legs, she easily took to the sky and heaved a sigh as she tilted her head to view the ground she'd left behind. _Idiot,_ she thought.

The entire island was spread open in front of her and she felt the anger and annoyance falling away, none could remain angry in the presence of such beauty for long. The water hole came into view in front of her, gratefully she descended upon it.

For a long moment, she stood at the edge of the water, her frustration of not being able to look down and see her image without tilting her face in either direction evident. Such a pity that her eyes, which could see for so many miles and almost completely behind her, were set so they were nearly on either side of her head.

Giving in, she tilted her head a little to the right and gazed at her reflection. She was pretty enough she supposed, her wings were shaped right and her lower jaw was not so large as other Nadders' which perhaps was more flattering. Her coloring was mostly average, she was a uniform blue from her lower body up to her shoulders, her underside was the pale creamy egg-shell color that was evident through-out her breed. Her wings were blue on top, and scalloped neatly on the edges as they should be, but perhaps the deep speckles of green and aqua blue were not on very many of her breed. Nor the deep red color on the back of each point of wings. Her horns were a flower-yellow color, rather than the normal bone-yellow that other had as well, but honestly, nothing that should drive members of _other_ species to asking for her affection.

"Oh _Snotlout,_ I couldn't possibly be your mate!" A voice called from her left, a perfect mocking mimicry of her own. Her eyes searched, but she knew already who it was. "I don't mate outside my own breed and I'm not so nearly pretty as _you_."

A dragon seemed to almost slither from the undergrowth nearby, Ruffnut, a Zippleback. Her two heads were playing out her last conversation with Snotlout with perfect diction.

"Can I help you Ruffnut?"

The dominant head, or at least the one that did most of the talking, pulled away from the theatrics and bent low so she could face Astrid more directly. "I can't believe he fell for the lines you fed him! Draco, it was _beautiful_."

The second head drifted down and merely echoed the last word of beautiful before pulling away and keeping a look out, a habit all the Zippleback breed had. "Well, what was I supposed to tell him? I've already told him no at least a hundred times."

Ruffnut shrugged and idly eyed a her own coloring. Covered from head to toe in non-uniform spots that were blue, edged in yellow and surrounded by red. "Do whatever you like, provided or course," she pulled back to eye her other head, "you do it entertainingly."

Astrid sighed and turned her head sky-ward, "And where is your charming egg-mate?"

Ruffnut's two heads gave simultaneous hisses, "Far away from us, we should hope!"

"You four have another spat?"

"When aren't we having a spat?" Ruffnut entwined with her more reserved head, it was kind of like having a friend that could never be apart from you.

Astrid chose to remain silent and instead spread her wings, "Come one, let's take a look at our new island!"

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With Hiccup

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The month that Toothless had spent with Hiccup had undoubtedly become the strangest of the dragonet's life. Given, that not much happened on his island and the fact he was only one winter old aside, but it was _really_ strange.

It was strange to Hiccup when Toothless flamed the ground in a neat circle, or flamed rocks and curled up beside them when he slept. It was summer and the air was warm, surely the earth was already warm enough? Or maybe it was just the sheer amount of fire the black dragon seemed to possess.

When he'd been much younger, the kindly Nightmare had told him about how each dragon had a limit to how much fire they could produce, some breeds only have a few shots, such as Timberjacks which only had four shots. Hiccup was unsure where he fell into this though, for he didn't know which breed he was and truly, whenever he tried to flame, he felt a part of him wither in fear. This dragon, however, seemed to flame almost constantly and with little regard as to whether or not he'd run out.

Toothless also sometimes slept upside down, quite like a bat, which truly alarmed Hiccup when he first stumbled upon the Night Fury for the first time in such a strange position.

There were other, smaller, little things that made Hiccup more and more aware that he must be a strange dragonet. There was no doubt in the half-breed's mind that before him, Toothless, was what every dragon should try to be. The Night Fury, which was what Toothless's breed called themselves or rather _Fury of the Night,_ was strong, poised, elegant, well-spoken, and incredibly intelligent. He had something that he called _pride _and _honor_ and a _warrior dragon's code_, which meant absolutely nothing, not a whit, to Hiccup.

From what the other had described, honor and pride seemed to be nothing that Hiccup wanted anything to with. Honestly, pride sounded like something that would get in the way, for what shame was there in asking for help? Shame, that was also a new emotion that Hiccup was coming to know very well. Every time Toothless gave him that look, the one that seemed to look so bewildered, Hiccup felt a pang deep in his stomachs, was he truly not a proper dragon?

Hiccup curled in on himself as he thought more and more on it, his tail scuffling in the dirt, cool and comforting against his scales. He tucked his wedged head beneath a wing and let out a soft keening sound. Was he a bad dragon? Could he even call himself a dragon?

Toothless had said that he'd learned to fly a two seasons out of shell and that most breeds learned to fly before their first winter. The gleaming dragon had not meant to be mean, Hiccup knew that, but the _shame_ that the dragonet had felt…

Heaving a sigh, Hiccup writhed a bit, his long neck feeling suddenly cramped and he stretched it out, his green eyes peering out of the mouth of the cave. It was such a beautiful day, birds were singing everywhere, their musical notes were soothing. The sunlight was beaming down hard, even through all the dense forest, the normally shadowy parts of the undergrowth was lit. It was a perfect day for sunning.

Hiccup chided himself, _Look at you, _he thought, _curled up like a sulky hatchling_. Toothless would never be caught dead in such a position. That thought stirred the depressed dragonet into standing, dragging his paws through sifting dusty dirt until he was swaying slightly on his feet.

As he made his way from his den, Hiccup felt the melancholy fall away. It was so hard to stay upset when the entire outside world was bright and alive with the heat of summer.

There was one place on the entire island that was perfect for sunning. It was a rather large clearing nearly in the middle of the island that had several large rocks that were positioned just so nicely. He'd showed Toothless this spot about a week ago when the weather had turned so fair, much to the older dragon's pleasure.

Now, as he approached the clearing, he caught sight of Toothless. The dragon was nearly blinding in the full sunlight, his scales were all so clean and polished that he practically gleamed like metal. Hiccup made to move forward, but hunkered down curiously as he watched Toothless observing a tiny song bird on a branch.

The stocky dragon was sitting up on his hind legs, his upper body neatly balanced. His eyes were focused with curiosity and wonder as the mother bird chirped in its nest, little babies that were nearly ready to fly themselves cheeped quietly at her feathered breast.

Hiccup couldn't help a soft snuffling laugh at the endearing sight, which the long ears of Toothless picked up. He startled and turned to give a half-hearted glare that made Hiccup snuffle all the harder.

"If you say _anything_ about that, I will eat you." The dragon skulked to a rock and threw himself upon it, trying to convey nonchalance about the whole situation.

"I wasn't going to say anything, it was rather-"

"If you say _cute_, I will flame you."

Hiccup felt his tail curl in a mock innocent posture, "I wasn't going to say anything like that at all, I'm even mildly offended… I think…"

Toothless rolled his eyes, _crazy hatchling_, his eyes watched the clear blue skies. "I think my wing is mostly healed."

The question had no overtones, but Hiccup felt like he'd just been told that his island was burning. A desperation and sudden fear swept through him, he would be alone again. As uncomfortable as he sometimes was in the older dragons presence, at least he wasn't alone!

"A-are you sure? Best to give it another few days before I check, the bone was broken, after all."

Toothless turned on the rock, his talons scratching white lines in the stone. He said nothing for a few seconds and Hiccup squirmed under the heavy gaze. "I am a Night Fury."

Hiccup gave a little shake of his head, "Yes, thank you, because that clears everything up."

Oh, sarcasm! That was another thing he was quickly picking up on from the elder dragon, and you know, Hiccup kind of liked it.

Toothless's tailfins suddenly snapped out, in one smooth motion he leapt from the stone without so much as a little noise. Hiccup felt himself crouch instinctively coiling his neck a little to put it out of harm's way, before him was a predator, a breed of dragon that seemed to have come into existence solely to hunt and dominate.

Toothless stopped when he saw Hiccup go into a defensive posture, it made a guilty twang in his stomach, because he was not all that upset. He became aware of the way his one free wing was mantled and made a conscious effort to seem less menacing. Sure, they'd known each other for a month and had learned a lot about one another, but it had just been only a month.

"It's alright, I'm not angry."

For a moment Hiccup wondered why on Earth the Night Fury thought he cared, but was surprised to when he felt the tension in his body slough away. _Why would I be so worried that I'd upset him?_ Well, he was powerful, and older, and stronger… Hiccup felt his innards twist, best not to think about all the ways the other male could kill him.

Before this month, Hiccup had not known what it was to fear anything. Nothing scary had ever breached his island's boundaries and nothing on the island was anywhere near his size. Before Toothless, Hiccup had not known any subtleties to conversation, nor posture.

Hiccup felt a little wonder at it all, in one month Hiccup had learned more than he had his whole life. He knew now, why you did not turn your back on another dragon. He knew now why size and breed did enter into how you spoke to other dragon. This didn't mean that Hiccup stopped turning his back on Toothless, or stopped speaking whatever was on his mind, but now he knew what the elder Nightmare had been so worried about.

Now, Toothless had crossed the wispy grass, to stand in front of him. Hiccup uncurled a little and with a playful gleam in his eyes, he snapped at one of the long ears. Play, how incredible it was to have someone to play with now!

Toothless gave a humored snort, after all, Hiccup was still an unfledged dragonet and was allowed to have relapses into such hatchling behavior. Hatchlings among the Night Fury breed were special and revered because so few were clutched, the adults humoring the dragonets in all their young games. Night Furies matured fast though, and often hatchling-hood was left quickly behind, so it had been a while since Toothless had played any dragonet nest games.

Good-naturedly, he allowed the narrow snout to nearly come into contact with his ear, before he neatly twitched it out of the way. Hiccup continued to sway towards him, trying to get a nip in, before he gave up and started after the Night Fury's tail.

He was young and Toothless felt an protective urge sweep him, it was why he allowed the mixed breed to chase after his tail like a kitten, or to try and pounce on him when the younger though he wasn't looking, or to even play tag. All were good games for Hiccup to play as he matured, Toothless was surprised to find he cared enough.

Maybe it was just Hiccup though, for Hiccup wasn't the only dragonet that Toothless had seen in his life, and he'd felt no urge to play or protect any of them. And though he'd never admit it, for all his pride, he owned this lesser breed dragonet quite a lot for setting his wing so properly. He would fly again, with just as much accuracy and speed as before the accident.

"Hiccup," he started, trying not to sound to stern. For the life of him, he couldn't understand how much he'd changed in the last month, "I can't teach you to fly if my wing is still injured."

Hiccup stopped abruptly, his eyes growing wide at the thought of flying. He raised his head to track the progress of many sea birds that wheeled joyfully in the blue sky. "W-will I be able to fly like them?"

Toothless's eyes flickered to the birds above, then swept his eyes over the dragonet. His wings were huge, perfect for getting up in the air and staying up for quite a long time. His body was small, about the size of a mountain lion and he had the same structure as well. Four limbs, good for climbing and perching, and a long tail that was good for balance.

"I should think you'll fly a good deal better than any little seagull."

Hiccup practically glowed as the statement, excitement over learning to fly over-ruling his earlier reluctance. "Alright, keep still and let me check."

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With Astrid

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"There! Do you see that island? It looks like a perfect place to land!" Ruffnut called over the winds to her companion.

Astrid cocked her head to the left, her incredibly keen eyes narrowing as she looked at it in the distance. "We haven't been flying all that long, are you tired already?"

Ruffnut snorted, her head swiveling to look at Astrid, "Of course not, but it looks like a nice quiet place for a nap, you aren't the only one with overzealous "suitors"."

Astrid winced in sympathy, "All right, it'll be a few more minutes till we're close enough to land."

Ruffnut turned both heads back toward the visage of the island, "Don't suppose there would be anything there… dangerous?"

Astrid rolled her eyes, "What in this area is dangerous to a Nadder and a Zippleback?"

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With Toothless and Hiccup

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"No, no, no you need to straighten your neck and tuck your legs!" Toothless sighed as he watched Hiccup again try to leap from the rock and glide. Gliding would be a good start for the dragonet, best to get that down before they moved on to actually flying.

And it was a good thing too, the dragonet was completely uncoordinated, nearly embarrassing to see. It wasn't the young thing's fault either, the winds were stronger in the air and Hiccup had never tried to glide before.

Toothless had been pleased when Hiccup reluctantly gave him the all clear. Dragons healed fast, but of course, Night Furies healed faster than all! In his own opinion, of course.

A few pre-flight flappings to clear out the lingering ache of disuse and Toothless had took one bound to reach the sky. Now, he was making tight circles and gliding neatly to where Hiccup had climbed back up again.

Toothless gave the dragon equivalent of a frown, his ears lying flat against his head. "We should probably go to higher ground, to give you more of a chance to get your wings out straight. Every time you jump, they're never fully open."

Hiccup was a little distressed, it wasn't like he was _trying_ to keep them shut, but he was scared to hit the ground and kept them in tight in case he hit too hard. He straightened his neck though and raised his head high, "I _will_ fly today."

Toothless's ears perked forward with humor, "Oh, I'm sure you will. One way or another. So, come on, I'll race you to higher ground."

He turned tail and was like a flash, Hiccup felt his own ears perk up in joy as he watched the finned tail disappear into the woods. "You won't win, 'cause I kn~ow a short cut." He gave a cheerful chirp.

Toothless was laughing as he reached the highest point on the island he knew of, hopefully it wasn't too high so that if Hiccup messed up he wouldn't break his neck. Toothless looked left and then right before he sat down heavily, "Well, where are you?"

"HERE!" chirped Hiccup as he pounced down at Toothless from a branch above him. Toothless went rigid in shock and managed to keep himself from snarling at the young dragonet, "Oh, that was _good_, you're getting better at sneaking."

Hiccup practically flounced about, a warm feeling in his heart, was this what pride was? Maybe it wasn't bad…

"Come on then, hop up on this rock beside me."

As Hiccup came astride, he peered over at Toothless and was pleased to find the dragon was quite focused. "Now, let me make sure you're in the right position."

Hiccup stood perfectly still as Toothless looked him over, his breath catching when the tip of a snout poked his wing up a little further, or using a talon to raise his head. "Alright, now, see how I'm standing?"

Hiccup searched over the elder dragon and eagerly mimicked him, "Am I standing right?"

"Yes, now, on the count of three, I'll leap _up_. I want you to leap with me. Remember, pretend that you are leaping to a rock above you, you always want to aim up or you won't get enough lift."

Nodding furiously, Hiccup waited as Toothless counted.

"One, two, three!"

With a whoosh of wings, they both surged forward, faith in the dragon beside him, Hiccup felt no nervousness.

It was exhilarating, and a moment of oh-what-did-I-just do, the dragonet reached his peak in the jump and let out a nearly breathless gasp as gravity took hold. He flailed in sudden panic, because he was falling and the ground was looking closer each second and thoughts of those poor birds splattered and splintered and-

"HICCUP! You _NEED_ to open your wings. Damn you! Open your wings!" A black blur flashed in front of him, and he felt a solid body rush up beneath him, "I can't stop us from falling, but I can give you time, now spread your wings!"

Hiccup felt his eyes slide shut and he tried, honest he _tried, _it was like they were stone and the wind was pushing in on him, he just couldn't get them clear.

Toothless went into a mid-air roll, to avoid the sharp wings of Hiccup as the younger male tried to open them fully.

Distressed, Toothless flashed in front of him again, "Come on Hiccup! You don't have much time!"

Hiccup felt a tremor run through him as he managed to completely open his left wing, but it caused him to spiral sharply toward the ground. Knowing he would regret it later, Toothless surged in, his tail entwining with Hiccup for purchase and throwing the both of them into a roll. It was the last technique that Toothless knew of to get a descending fledgling to open their wings. The shock of the roll would, hopefully, be enough to get the wings to unfurl. When they separated there was only a few more feet before they hit the water. Both fell in separate directions and Hiccup breath in sudden relief and pleasure as his wings finally snapped out, a _shinging _sound like a sword pulled from a sheath signaled the unbroken edge of steel scales as his wings were completely straight.

Toothless heaved his own sigh of relief as those huge wings finally were open, the scalloped edges were set with beautiful green and opalescent turquoise. Pulling out his nose-dive Hiccup gave a roar of accomplishment. He was home! The sky was opening before him and he was lighter than air, this was his element, this was _right_!

Toothless flew in to fly above him, instinctively taking the higher spot which allowed him to exert control over both of their flights, for the fragile wings were beneath him and he could put pressure in either position.

If he were pursuing Hiccup or in a fight, Toothless would have the advantage by being above Hiccup, but Hiccup was no threat and the dragonet was doing delighted spinning loops in the sky, "Toothless, Toothless look! I'm flying."

Toothless rolled his eyes but was happy all the same, there was nothing quite like flying and he couldn't blame the younger for being so happy.

The sudden mid-air collision was unexpected, perhaps if the pair of dragons coming from the north weren't upwind, Toothless would have been able to scent them.

Hiccup had be so absorbed by the new sensation of flight, that by the time he'd seen the Nadder flying straight at him, it was too late.

Shrieks and squalls filled the air as the two fouled each other's flights. They went into heart-stopping dive, a mock mating embrace which Toothless couldn't help by find ironic.

Astrid was snapping and snarling in rage, "What do you think you're doing? Get off of me!"

Hiccup cried in panic and pain, her spikes sliding against his scales and breaking them, he'd never been bodily slammed before. "I'm not on you! You're dragging us both down!"

Their flight was thankfully on a slant, Toothless noticed, their present trajectory was with the North Beach and he surged in that direction. It looked like the two would stay entwined for the whole crash, but at the last moment, Hiccup got his front limbs up and scrabbled at the thin scales of the Nadder's chest. It was enough to separate them and they both crashed apart on the sand.

Groaning weakly in pain and dizziness, Hiccup could hardly make it to his feet. Toothless had gone into a controlled dive right after him, landing at his side and nuzzling him over, checking for wounds. Besides some the natural soreness, Toothless could find no real damage done to Hiccup besides a few displaced scales.

Abruptly though, it was like a war had broke out as a Zippleback landed, both heads spitting in rage. The Nadder had managed to make it to her feet and was clacking her jaws in blood-lust.

Toothless stood proudly in front of Hiccup, his ears back, snarling in rage. His entire posture was sent to leap and tear apart anything that gave him a target. "What is your problem?" Astrid screeched.

Hiccup gave a weak moan and fell to his left, his shoulders were sore and his wings were dragging across the sand, he had been knocked quite silly by his landing. Toothless answered instead, "You're my problem. He," Toothless gestured at Hiccup, "has an excuse for not paying attention, what's yours?"

Astrid felt her spikes raise up of her neck and she leapt forward, "I don't need any excuse, that dragon collided with _me_."

Toothless felt a rage building higher inside him, like the blue fire that was building in his mouth. It would come to blows very soon, "How disgusting, don't you know your place?"

Astrid paused, for the first time noting that the dragon facing her was unlike any breed she'd met. She felt her spikes quiver, at her side Ruffnut swung down to speak to her, "Astrid be careful! That's a Night Fury!"

Dread dropped into her stomachs, a Night Fury, a breed that was whispered to hatchlings at night to scare them into behaving. She didn't back down, but she did put her spikes back to her neck, slowly stepping away. She snarled, just for good measure, "What's his excuse then?"

Toothless did not relax, but he tilted his head, "This was his first flight."

Astrid felt a little disappointed in herself, she had been so irritated since she left the nesting grounds that she'd been itching for any fight she could get. The little bundle of scales was just a fledged hatchling!

Hiccup had recovered enough to stand and shake his head, "It's alright Toothless, really!" He stepped forward, his shaking was hardly noticeable, "I am Hiccup, I'm so sorry for flying into you, please, let me make it up to you."

Toothless gave the younger male an incredulous look, yet another un-dragon like thing to do!

Astrid, herself, did not seem to know what to do. She looked to her side where Ruffnut was brooding, "Well perhaps," she started, "We are a little hungry…"

Hiccup nodded, "Please stay for a meal, as a way of me saying sorry."

Toothless's eyes glowed as he watched the two dragonesses in front of him, "But you'd better be on your best behavior."

Hiccup gave him a look.

"What?"

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End Chapter

Okay all, that's it! Um, hoped you liked it. If Hiccup sounds a little whiny, he's supposed to, but don't worry he'll turn into the Hiccup we all know and love. He's just a little out of his depth right now. Toothless is supposed to sound arrogant, this will change later. If you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can change them right away, If anyone has any ideas that they think would be cool to add to the story, I'm always up for them.


	5. Home is Where You Keep Your Heart

Yeah, so it's been about two years since there was an update for this story and I'm very sorry about that. Have a new chapter as my way of an apology.

-Home is Where You Keep Your Heart-

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Astrid wasn't quite sure if what was unfolding in front of her reality or if she'd really hit a cliff in her flight and this was some weird brain-damage induced dream. It felt real, the fish being set down carefully in front of her smelled real, the wind that carried the scent of the ocean salty and cold carried a dampness that felt real and yet…

Her she was, having a mid day snack with a Night Fury, a strange hybrid that most definitely had some Timberjack blood, and her faction-mate Ruffnut. She'd never even seen a Night Fury up close before today, they were perhaps one of the most feared breeds, and here they were eating together albeit it with great reluctance and in uneasy silence.

The dragonet she'd hit, though he would be properly termed as a dragon now if that was indeed his first flight, was almost beside himself with joy. She couldn't really understand that because, after all, what dragon would be happy about other strange dragons eating game from their territory, that would mean less food for the one that lived there and it was nearly unheard of! Astrid would have thought completely unheard of if it weren't for the fact it was currently happening.

The Nadder tilted her head, dream-like and slow, at her companion, "Is this real? Did I hit my head or are we really sitting here?"

The Zippleback snorted before the dominant head snapped up a fish and the other bit it in half so that both heads could eat at the same time. Disgusting, but effective Astrid thought distantly, they were able to devour their food so much more quickly with two heads.

"You may or may not have hit your head either way, but this is real and if you don't eat your fish, I may do it for you."

The Nadder glared back down at her supposed meal, feeling her stomachs turn. Nadders mostly ate fowl, chicken being a favorite. It wasn't that they would eat fish if they were hungry, but fish wasn't the most appetizing a meal for her.

Still, with those enormous emerald colored eyes on her, she felt compelled to at least awkwardly duck down and munch on one, ignoring the reflex to gag at the oily taste. "Hmmm," she mumbled around a mouthful, "Ack- very, erm, crunchy." She finished lamely as she managed to snap it all down. The small male fluttered the edge of his wings in delight at her words.

Ruffnut seemed to have no such conniptions about her pile of fish, they disappeared quickly down her throat, "This is great! Do you have any more?" This question was followed by the heads looking sidelong at the Night Fury's own pile of fish. The answer hiss made them both snap back, "Does he look like a net to you? Be glad he deigned to give you any you split-minded fool."

Astrid felt her nostrils flare in anger at the insult; it seemed that the older male still wasn't quite over the earlier verbal scuffle. "Toothless!"

The black dragon gave a barely imperceptible flinch at the voice before rolling his eyes skyward. "They're my guests! I've never seen such dragons before! I'm sorry for staring but really, do tell me what breed you are?"

"Are you serious?" Astrid didn't even wait before staring up at the Night Fury, "Is he serious?"

Hiccup, as their guest was apparently called, mantled his wings a bit and stared at the ground in embarrassment. That reaction made Astrid feel like the dirt under her talons because that was a rather unfair thing to say to a dragonet. The female gave herself a shake, what was she even thinking? Feeling guilty over such a thing? She needed to get back to the faction because she'd spent just about enough time here as it was and she had a feeling that if they stayed her longer there would be trouble. But not before she told the poor thing her species. After all, she had hit him during his fledgling flight, something that was usually a very special and important occasion.

"I'm a Nadder." There short, simple, and to the point. Now she could leave and get back on with her life. Though she took a minute to wonder why she was in such a hurry to return to the Home Cave. All that awaited her back there was… ugh… on second thought maybe it wouldn't be too much trouble to remain her a little longer.

"A Nadder? How fascinating! Do you mind extending your wings?"

She was too tired and to bewildered at this point to really put up much of a fight in that regard and stretched out her wings, wincing as she felt the soreness at her joints. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to fly right away even if she truly wanted to.

Hiccup, who had been studying the wing segments and how the wing connected to her shoulder, noticed the wince and, while he could not frown, he did exude a spirit of remorse. "If it is alright with you," he began cautiously, "you could perhaps stay here for a few hours?"

Astrid opened her beakish mouth, but then snapped it closed. She pushed down her immediate reaction, that no she most certainly did not want to stay on this tiny island with two strange males that she had met through an air collision, but at the same time she wasn't sure if she could physically fly back to Home Cave with such sore wings.

Ruffnut, on cue, puffed up eagerly, "I want to stay! Oh oh, can we stay Astrid?" "Yeah, yeah, stay?" Astrid rolled her eyes once again skyward, "Well, I suppose-"

She was cut off as the Night Fury angrily stalked forward, "Hiccup, we just met them!"

Hiccup hmm at him, "I know, isn't it great? And what's your names?" He completely disregarded the Night Fury's interjection. Toothless sat back angrily, "Fine you two stay, but you try anything _anything_ and I will roast you! You understand?"

To her surprise, Astrid felt her scales shudder. The look in those vibrant eyes, the way his body was postured, even his voice sounded like a crack of thunder and all the authority of lightning. She looked away, realizing that she was conceding dominance, but you try saying no to a Night Fury!

"Astrid, my name is Astrid."

Hiccup nearly vibrated from his delight, "And you? You're a …?"

Ruffnut stood proudly, her other head puffed out a bit of gas and she breathed a hint of flame to make it crackle and spark around them, "I'm a Zippleback, little minnow, my name is Ruff," the dominant head began, "Nut," the other head finished.

Hiccup looked at the two in awe, "Fascinating!"

Ruffnut swaggered a step toward Astrid, "Hear that? He thinks we're _fascinating_."

Her delight in being considered such was palpable and Astrid scoffed, "he probably is more interested in that hot air you blow."

Her second head puffed with confidence even as her main head snapped good naturedly at the Nadder. Hiccup watched the exchange, suddenly tense, "Don't fight!"

Astrid blinked, before swinging her head back toward Hiccup. "What are you clacking about?"

The small male titled his head down and away embarrassed, "…s'said don't fight."

The Zippleback threw back her head's and laughed, "Fight? We aren't fighting! This is how we show how much we care," she slapped the Nadder with the tip of her tail, "Right, stick in the mud?"

Astrid bared her teeth in mock anger, "Right you bent scale-face."

"Oy!"

Astrid chuckled a bit, before sobering; did this hatchling really not sense that there was no true anger behind their actions? Did he not scent them and realize that there was no scent of fighting hormones? Scent was very important. Both scent and sight could be used to truly determine a real fight versus a mock play fight.

"Where is your faction, little fledgling?" And really, he wasn't that much younger than her, right? Shouldn't he be fully fledged and with a group by now?

The Timberjack mix gazed at her, than to the Night Fury, than back to her. "Faction?"

Astrid shook her head, 'oh for the love of…'

When she raised her head again, her eyes caught sight of the Night Fury slowly nodding his head, his eyes commiserating with her. "Welcome to my last month," was all he said before he stood up and waited pointedly.

Hiccup apparently took this as a sign to lead them off, turning easily and without even a shred of caution. Ruffnut couldn't suppress her surprised squawk at him being so benign and placing himself in such a defenseless position. Or at least it would have been had there not been a very unimpressed Night Fury glaring them down.

As far as days went, this one was one of the oddest to be sure.

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"Are you sure you saw them come this way, Snotlout?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure. I'm one of the best trackers of our egg group aren't I?"

The Gronkle said nothing in response and the young Monstrous Nightmare took that as a sign of his agreement.

"We've been flying for hours though, what in Draco's sky did you say that got her horns in a twist?" Tuffnut grumbled from the other side.

Snoutlout seemed almost indignant, "I didn't say anything to upset her, she just went for a flight of course. I'm sure your hatch-mate had something to do with it."

"Oh no doubt we're both getting up into things, but Astrid? Yeah, she just _decided_ out of nowhere, to take a three hour flight _away_ from the Home Cave just for fun?"

Snotlout snorted, "She's very free-spirited," his tone almost dreamy as he stared out in the open sky, "It's what makes her so great."

Tuffnut's two heads stared at one another before the dominant one shook his head, "Yeah… sure."

The Nightmare bristled, "You saying she's not?!"

The Zippleback's heads reared in alarm, "No No No, she's great. You're great and she's great right?" he asked his other head, "Right!"

From Snotlout's other side, Fishlegs whispered something. "What was that?" Snotlout demanded.

Fishlegs floundered for a moment before his eyes widened.

"I said I see an island!"

Snotlout stared out ahead, his eyes picking it out of the blue surrounding it. It wasn't very large, he was instinctively sure that there would be no large game to be had there. He spotted a second much larger island, not all that far away and the sight of smoke drifting up meant humans. "Well, I say we keep going. Why would she stop there when there are humans right over there? I bet she went over there and killed every single one of them! She's the best!"

"I thought you were the best?"

"Besides me, she's the best!" He amended.

Fishlegs thought about for a moment, "Yeah, but a Nadder can't fly more than three or four hours without resting. They don't have the endurance for that. Neither do Gronckles, for that matter." He added the last part as an after thought.

"Pssht, fine, we'll land just so you can see that you're wrong, but I'm telling you there is nothing on that island."

Ruffnut whooped, "I don't care what we do as long as I can rest for a little while, not that I can't go another 100 miles or anything."

Fighlegs didn't bother to mention that he physically probably couldn't.

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There was totally something on the island Snotlout thought in a panic as he ran from an infuriated Night Fury.

The three males had landed fine, easy as you please. The wind thermals had been just right and the descent was smooth. Snotlout had just about begun his victory speech of being right, when out of no where a weird dragon had popped up and started asking him questions. Who had time for questions?

So he'd shot a fireball at him, annoyed that a mixed breed was talking to him as though they were on equal terms. He could smell Astrid and Ruffnut, he could even smell Astrid on this small male and the thought enraged him.

The other male had thrown himself out of the way, but not before it caught a bit of his tail, and the injured male roared in alarm then doused his tail in the sea.

Snotlout sneered and was about to stalk forward when a black flash leapt out of the tree line.

It had taken the stocky black dragon about three seconds to ascertain what had happened. He glared furiously at the three new males on the island.

"Hiccup are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, sorry, I was just surprised. My tail is still there, just a little burnt." The fire had hit at a strange place, where the scales were blending into hide, which just wasn't quite equipped to handle a Nightmare's fire.

"You have five seconds to tell me why you're here and then leave."

Snotlout hadn't quite put together what was going on, but like he would answer some random dragon's question.

"Snotlout, we should do as he says!" Fishlegs mumbled quietly near him.

"Che, why would I do that? Hey, you! Where is Astrid?"

The dragon snarled and stared him straight in the eye, Snotlout's spikes raised in challenge at the display of dominance. Before he could even blink, the Night Fury was surging forward, enraged at the audacity of the Nightmare.

"Night Fury!" Fishlegs suddenly screamed.

"Yeah? Why couldn't you have said that _before _he tried killing us?" Ruffnut shrieked back as he ducked out of the way of blue fire.

How was Snotlout to know that the half-breed had a Night Fury friend?

And that was how Astrid and Ruffnut found them twenty minutes later, screaming for their lives, as they ran about like chickens without their heads.

Ruffnut had laughed herself nearly sick as they scrambled, too occupied at her hatch-mates terror to actually attempt to mediate.

Astrid was even begrudgingly impressed that Snotlout had made it this far, but not quite so impressed at his shrieks or fear.

Hiccup had arrived before them, but was not about to get in the way of Toothless for once. He'd never been attacked before and though the surprise shook him more than the injury did, he actually was enjoying himself watching the three run about.

It didn't seem like Toothless wanted to really kill them, more like scare them. Hiccup also thought it was funny that he didn't stop chasing one until he'd burnt their tails, the same as his own. It was actually a bit touching in a way, it made the small ember in his stomach grow brightly at the witnessed "protection".

"Perhaps I should stop him?" he wondered out loud to two females who were watching with amused airs. Astrid snorted, "And lose this entertainment?"

Ruffnut snorted, blowing hot air all over Hiccup as she leaned down and winked at him, "Give it a few more minutes, I haven't seen Tuffnut run like that since he was a moon cycle old!"

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It was only much later that Snotlout finally dropped in exhaustion, he wasn't even that disappointed in himself, after all he'd flown three hours before this chase and what dragon wouldn't be tired. Sure, he could probably run circles around that blasted Night Fury if it hadn't been for that!

His tail was sore from burns and the Night Fury stalked up eyeing the three prone dragons with distaste. He was only slightly out of breath, but felt he could go quite a bit longer if the need be.

"I think I've already figured out why you're here, but I'll give you one last chance to answer, why are you here?"

Snotlout glared, despite himself. "I came here looking for my mate!"

From the sidelines, Astrid sighed and shook her head, "Dragon just can't take a hint."

Ruffnut butted her with her head gently in sympathy.

Toothless rolled his eyes before settling on Hiccup. The other male gestured with a paw at some plants he'd scraped together, "To help with burns," was all he said outloud.

Toothless smacked his own forehead with the tip of a tail. "They can't all stay! This many dragons in a territory that isn't their own? This never happens!"

Hiccup tightened his wings, "They're staying because I say they can. All this about territories and what not, I don't care. They are tired, they can't fly that far, and they know these two. What's wrong with them staying the night?"

"You!" the Night Fury bit out.

"Me? What's wrong with me?"

Frustrated Toothless used his tail to flick over Hiccup's whole body.

"You just pointed to all of me!"

"That's because it is all you! Why don't you take this seriously? They could hurt you!"

"You didn't hurt me."

Toothless snapped his jaws together and just glared at the three dragons. "Fine, you stay because he says so, but you don't attack him and you don't ignore him, got it?"

The three nodded frantically and Toothless sat down in a sulk. He wouldn't allow this if it were his island, but it wasn't and the Dragon Code instilled in him demanded that unless he challenged for the island, then the owner got say.

Hiccup walked over and nuzzled his shoulder, unsure of why, but equally unsure of how else to show his appreciation. "I know you were worried. Thank you." And he turned and walked back toward the den, the two females, seeing that nothing more was going on, turned and followed.

Toothless sat there, reflecting. How strange was it that all these different dragons were completely at east amongst Hiccup. Was it his size? Was it his unassuming nature? Was it because he was without the heavy shackles the other dragons metaphorically carried? He had no care for pride, no care for tradition, no care for dominance and how it played a role in dragon society. For Draco's sake, he barely even cared that there was a society.

Perhaps that was why Toothless trusted him so easily. He as not going to usurp his place in the flock, was not going to kill him in his sleep, wasn't going to double cross him.

Toothless snorted and then remembered the other dragons half unconscious around him. "Follow us when you find your strength… bunch of fledglings."

Tuffnut raised one head, "Thought you were "_the best_".

Snotlout hissed in irritation, "I was tired from flying here, what do you want me to do? Not be tired, 'cause I can do that!"

Fishlegs just stared after the Night Fury, "He fired 12 shots! How can he fire so many? That was so cool!"

Snotlout growled, "Shut up Fishlegs."

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Nightfall found them hours later, all cramped in a small den. It was perhaps the most crazy assortment of den-mates in more than 100 years. Two Zipplebacks, one Nightmare, one Nadder, one Gronkle, one Night Fury, and one half-breed Timberjack.

Astrid was still feeling as though she were dreaming, even as she settled down near Ruffnut and Fishlegs. Her sharp eyes making out the shapes in the far back to the den, first Toothless he was flaming the ground and curling up in front of their host. Hiccup had confessed that this would be the first time in a long time that he'd slept at night, but the day had been eventful and he was feeling pretty tired.

"So, Astrid, want to curl up with one another, I'll be sure to protect you from anything in the dark."

Ruffnut snorted, "Like you protected her from Toothless?"

Snotlout huffed, "He's a Night Fury! What do you expect from me? I can protect her from practically everything else!"

"Thank you for the thought Snotlout, but there simply isn't enough room for such a large dragon like yourself here near the wall, but if you were to sleep, say near the entrance, I don't think anything would be able to get in!"

Snotlout puffed up his chest and marched over to the mouth of the cave. He curled up right at the threshold so that he was still under the caves protection, "Never fear, dear Astrid, I shall protect you."

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Thank you brave Snotlout, whatever would I do without you!"

Tuffnut rumbled with barely suppressed laughter.

Ruffnut bumped heads with him, "What are you laughing about? You nearly tied yourself in knots when Toothless breathed a fireball at you."

"Shut up!" He snapped his tail at her.

"No you you shut up!" She hissed back.

The two of them tuffled for about a minute before Astrid snapped angrily, "Both of you shut up!"

Tuffnut looked to Fishlegs for backup, but the tired Gronkle had already fallen asleep, so used to the bickering that he was no longer bothered by it in the least.

The male huffed before curling up in a circle. His sister turning her back and doing the same. This distance lasted only about five minutes before the two shifted so that they were a mess of coils and limbs. Hatched from the same very cramped egg, they had never slept apart. And though they argued, that was water down the river when it came to sleeping at night.

Toothless sighed as it finally fell quiet. He was drifting off when he felt a warm body curl up near his own. He didn't look, he didn't have to, but he settled down more comfortably, his healed wing tucked safely to his side as he slept back to back with Hiccup.

End chapter. Sorry that it's a bit of filler. But they all had to meet somehow! Next chapter will be out before the end of the year. Expect Vikings!


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